[FutureHendr1x]

So 1k for just a amplifier...that seems quite a bit..then add speakers and subs this comes to over 2k for upgrading the hifi does this seem right..


i would like to upgrade my base Hifi sound. I am coming from a 2015 VW GTI with the fender audio system, and that shits on this stock Hifi.


What should i start with? any advice would be great...

[scostu]

Originally Posted by FutureHendr1x

So 1k for just a amplifier...that seems quite a bit..then add speakers and subs this comes to over 2k for upgrading the hifi does this seem right..


i would like to upgrade my base Hifi sound. I am coming from a 2015 VW GTI with the fender audio system, and that shits on this stock Hifi.


What should i start with? any advice would be great...

Are you referring to the Bimmertech Amp/DSP?

Used one for sale in members for sale section $600.

That is a good deal....

[FutureHendr1x]

Originally Posted by scostu

Are you referring to the Bimmertech Amp/DSP?

Used one for sale in members for sale section $600.

That is a good deal....

Yeah that's what i was referring to, my bad. It seems so much just for a amp, where the stage 1 speaker upgrade is $500 which is less than the amp itself .

Whould i start with the speaker upgrade or the woofers?

[scostu]

Originally Posted by FutureHendr1x

Yeah that's what i was referring to, my bad. It seems so much just for a amp, where the stage 1 speaker upgrade is $500 which is less than the amp itself .

Whould i start with the speaker upgrade or the woofers?

I added the Bimmertech Amp/Dsp and Eartquake SWS 8" subs under front seats and stopped there. I have the Hi-if stock stereo. My wagon is a daily driver and I have 2 very young kids. No more dual 12" subs in trunk for me.

[FutureHendr1x]

Originally Posted by scostu

I added the Bimmertech Amp/Dsp and Eartquake SWS 8" subs under front seats and stopped there. I have the Hi-if stock stereo. My wagon is a daily driver and I have 2 very young kids. No more dual 12" subs in trunk for me.

Good to know so if i add the amp to the current speakers what would the benefit of that be?? just louder sound? or more crisper etc

[scostu]

Originally Posted by FutureHendr1x

Good to know so if i add the amp to the current speakers what would the benefit of that be?? just louder sound? or more crisper etc

Both.

[GeertB]

Originally Posted by Tavicu

Hei guys. Another success story
Today i managed to make some holes in my car )

....
Again, thank you very much guys for the support and the template.

Great work!

[NOGRP]

Hy Guys,

I would like to ask for some advice. I have base stereo system and I have recently bought a Focal IFMW-S speaker kit. I would like to buy an amp for it too. I do not want to spend so much like some of you did. My budget is around 200€. Can you please advise me some good amp what I can use? I am looking for the Alpine amplifier. It is easy to install, PnP and requires only small coding. Is there any similar on the market for that price like the Alpine amplifier?

[beanbaguk]

Originally Posted by NOGRP

Hy Guys,

I would like to ask for some advice. I have base stereo system and I have recently bought a Focal IFMW-S speaker kit. I would like to buy an amp for it too. I do not want to spend so much like some of you did. My budget is around 200€. Can you please advise me some good amp what I can use? I am looking for the Alpine amplifier. It is easy to install, PnP and requires only small coding. Is there any similar on the market for that price like the Alpine amplifier?

You'll be lucky to get what you need for 200eur. The harness and cabling alone will cost that.

I think you're going to have to double your budget at very least. Otherwise if you can get your hands on a second hand Alpine upgrade kit amplifier, that would be your second best option, but they are very hard to come by, and they're not PnP and require a little modding of your car (drilling through the firewall grommet and sealing it up).

[NOGRP]

Originally Posted by beanbaguk

You'll be lucky to get what you need for 200eur. The harness and cabling alone will cost that.

I think you're going to have to double your budget at very least. Otherwise if you can get your hands on a second hand Alpine upgrade kit amplifier, that would be your second best option, but they are very hard to come by, and they're not PnP and require a little modding of your car (drilling through the firewall grommet and sealing it up).

Thank you for the tip.

I was also thinking to buy an ETON SDA 150.4 amplifier (~300€). What would be your recommendation?

What I do not really know is where I can find such a harness and cable for F20 and also DIY instruction for wiring and setup. There is a plentny of DIY instruction for F30 but I think its not the same.

I think this is what I need:
https://technicpnp.com/product/stereo-24-harness/

Maybe this one as well:
BMW E90/F10/F20/F30 Hi Fi AMP Connector Harness

[hidehide]

Can anyone guide me where should I draw power for the amp so it only shuts off when I open the door instead of when I turn the ignition off?

[soundwave]

Can anyone point me to installation instructions into an F31 wagon? Thanks!

[beanbaguk]

Originally Posted by soundwave

Can anyone point me to installation instructions into an F31 wagon? Thanks!

Sadly there aren't any, but I have done the install on my F31.

What do you need to know and maybe I can help....

[beanbaguk]

Originally Posted by hidehide

Can anyone guide me where should I draw power for the amp so it only shuts off when I open the door instead of when I turn the ignition off?

Are you using the Bimmertech Amp? If so, just wire the ground lead to a ground point on the wheel arch, and the positive directly to the battery terminal.

The amp will switch off as you want when you lock the car as you want. The amp will auto sense the need to switch off when there's no signal.

[soundwave]

Thanks beanbaguk. I currently have the Alpine retrofit hifi + Gladen subs under the seats. The sound was really nice, but when I retrofitted an NBT, the sound changed - too much bass now and the sound stage also changed to worse. I don't know why this happened. The coding looks to be the same. One theory is that the HU drives the subs bypassing Alpine's amp and now the NBT drives the subs stronger?

I want a DSP system I can tweak anyway, so I am now stuck on deciding which one to get together with a Gladen 3-way element set: Bimmertech OR Mosconi D2 80.6. Bimmertech would have to be installed into the trunk, but Mosconi is so small, it could be installed under the glovebox, where the Alpine amp currently is. I don't also know if the original amp and wiring are in place, since the Alpine retrofit was done by the dealer. I could of course check that.

[Siluromx]

I know this subject is old but I said let me post here since its related, and maybe somebody will read

I have 420i Grand Coupe 2016 with Base Sound, I decided to buy BimmerTech Alpha One Speakers and Subs. for an upgrade.

Here is what I think after installing all the speakers. My car didnt came with tweeters, so I had to buy tweeters enclosures. My plan and idea was to install tweeters for better sound staging and clarity.


1- I noticed the sound became more powerful than before! even when I dont have amplifier ! e.g. turn volume to half equal turning the volume almost to the end with oem speakers.


2- Sound is more clear and defined when comparing to the muddy oem speakers.


But I am having a problem as for now, Its not BimmetTech fault, its mine, because I was told in advance that I need an amp.


My problem is that the tweeters volume is high, I think they need to be reduced by 3db or so, and the inline crossover wont allow for that, this is why you need and amplifier to reduce the level of those tweeters.


Being said that, I had to increase the woofer level from the Head unit little bit to achieve some balance if possible, but the result was not that clean deep bass when I did that , its all because the Head Unit EQ is limited, this why again the amp. will correct that.


Anyway, is it possible to reduce the level of the tweeters ? or by removing the inline crossover and installing another passive Crossover? or it will have a compatibility issue ?


my other question is that I noticed the oem subwoofer was smaller and pointing downward, where the Bimmertech woofer is bigger and pointing upward. Does that effect the new subwoofer sound quality because of the bigger cone installed in oem smaller case with no amp to drive it ?

[LongRuf]

Originally Posted by Siluromx

Anyway, is it possible to reduce the level of the tweeters ? or by removing the inline crossover and installing another passive Crossover? or it will have a compatibility issue ?


my other question is that I noticed the oem subwoofer was smaller and pointing downward, where the Bimmertech woofer is bigger and pointing upward. Does that effect the new subwoofer sound quality because of the bigger cone installed in oem smaller case with no amp to drive it ?

You should be able to change that in the tuning software for the amp. A link for the program, plus instructions is available on their website. There is also a thread devoted to amp tuning.

[Siluromx]

Hi LongRuf

Thanks for taking the time to reply, at least someone is still reading the old subject

My problem is that I dont have the amplifier. I just upgraded the speakers and the subs. The base HU is the only source to drive them.

I am thinking if i couldn't solve the tweeters high levels, i will remove the tweeters with their enclosures and reinstall the original empty cover, and also remove the Bimmertech speakers when I have the budget to replace them with Bavsound. their speakers are coaxial type that comes with built in tweeters. This way I can have more balanced sound but at the cost of sound staging

[fifthelement89]

Dear friends.

I've been reading a lot of posts about upgrades and Its just so much information that I get confused.

I have base stereo, with NBT profissional navigation.

I just bought two focal IS BMW 100L with tweeters and crossover for front, and two focal IC bmw 100 for back. Also bought alubutyl to apply on the doors to isolate them.

I will eventually buy the two under seat subwoofers ( Probably two emphaser for 240 euros ) but I think for now I want to get an amplifier.

What is the best budget one? And easier to install. I'm not a professional DIY but I can handle almost everything. And about the sound I'm not too picky, I just want something better and no distortion. The base system I can't put it much loud.. And with the doors open, it sounds worse than my first car, an opel astra from 98 lol

[Billfitz]

Changing speakers without an amp capable of powering them is a waste of time and money. This thread shows how one member upgraded his base system: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1475424

[fifthelement89]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Changing speakers without an amp capable of powering them is a waste of time and money. This thread shows how one member upgraded his base system: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1475424

You were right.

I changed the front and rear speakers and did a sound deadning to the doors.
Since I have the base system, the improvements where basically none.

I've been reading so much as I said that I am too confused..

One thing is certain. I need an amplifier. Now, I can't afford the plug and play option, since I'm from Portugal and the prices are insane. So I want to get the best budget amplifier I can get to power the front and rear speakers and under seat subs.

How hard is to make myself the harness needed to connect everything?

And what is a good example of an amplifier I can buy?

Thanks !

[Billfitz]

With the base system you can use the head unit speaker outputs to feed a more powerful amp, so long as the amp has high level inputs on each channel, or you can use a level converter that accepts the speaker outputs and transforms them to line level to plug into an amp. You also can use an electronic crossover between the level converter and amp to send only the midbass and higher frequencies to the door speaker amp channels and only the bass to either under seat or trunk sub amp channels.